Georgiana understood Josephine's feelings very well.
She had done something similar herself before. When they had just returned from their secluded refuge, she had been worried that Severus would be tempted, so she arranged for a young man named Iris to stay by his side and watch for any "suspicious people" who appeared.
A peaceful, prosperous life was not so easily obtained, which was why Georgiana could so readily accept the life of an "ordinary person." This vacant noble castle was hardly fit for receiving the First Consul of France, but who had told her to disrupt the rhythm of the tour?
People could easily lose themselves in illusions. How wonderful it would be if one could always be welcomed like this.
Those who had not lived through such events found it difficult to understand the feelings of those who had experienced the French Revolution. The sight of economic problems being solved with the guillotine had frightened some people. Georgiana proposed lending money to bakery owners to keep their businesses afloat, and even at one percent interest, there were still people willing to lend.
They could not do what the judges of the former Paris Parlement had done—give away all their wealth to buy bread for the poor—but they also understood that forcing bakery owners to repay their debts was unrealistic. With high flour prices and a public demanding cheap bread, all the pressure had fallen upon the bakeries. The owners could simply leave their guilds and declare bankruptcy.
But if that happened, commoners would find fewer and fewer bakeries, and the lines to buy bread would grow longer and longer. Even rationing would still cause anxiety.
If someone walked into a shop and found shelves full of goods, able to buy as much as she or he wanted, they